Ratchet wrench



Oct 24, 1950 R. H. RODGERS ET AL 2,527,033

RATCHET WRENCH Filed Deo. 1o, 1947 R H @ODG/SRS A 5. Mcm/MEV PatentedOct. 24, 195()l RATCHET WRENCH Arlington, and Alvah B. McKinney, FortWfoirth, Tex.

Application December 10, 1947, Serial N o. 790,732v

Robert H. Rodgers,

This invention relates to hand tools and has reference to a ratchetwrench. .An object of the invention is to provide a ratchet'wrenchhaving an opened end and adapted to use on the unions of hydraulic linesclose to walls where an ordinary opened end wrench cannot convenientlybe used.

Another object of the invention, in addition to the foregoing, is toprovide a wrench oi the reerred to class wherein the Wrench heads areinterchangeable so as to accommodate various sizes of unions, nuts, andbolt heads.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ratchet wrench havinga rotatable head, and which head has sufficient bearing surface to applyadequate force to the same when turning an object having wrenchsurfaces.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ratchet wrench havingan extendable jaw for rotatably securing a wrench head, and whereinthere is little or no shearing force applied to the pivot pin of thejaw.

These and other objects of the invention will become appa-rent from thefollowing description of the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational View, partly shown in broken section, ofa wrench embodying the features of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the wrench illustrated in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure l, but showing the jaws of thewrench in their opened position and with the wrench head removed.

Figure 4 is a side elevational View of a wrench head forming part of thepresent invention, and

Figure 5 is an end view of Figure 4.

The illustrated form of the invention includes a tubular handle i havinga housing 2 integral therewith. The housing 2 is relatively iiat and hasa recess 53 which is open in one side of the .1

housing to receive the arm i of a jaw 5. The end of the housing 2 isextended to form a coacting jaw S which is opposingly arranged withrespect to the rst referred to jaw 5. The arm 4 is substantiallycircular at its inner end where .f

the housing 2 is recessed to rotatably receive the same. A pivot pin 'lextends through the housing 2 and the diaree-tric cent-er of the end ofthe jaw arm 4, and the edge of the housing adjacent the jaw 5 is arcuateto accommodate a step 3 formed between the jai'. 5 and the jaw arm Il.The opposing surfaces oi the laws 5 and E are also arcuate to receive heannular bearing surfaces S of a substantially circular wrench head ifi.

The wrench head il? includes an opening l in 1 claim. (oral-61) its sidetoreceive opposing wrench surfaces of a nut, union, or the like,- and asparticularly shown in Figures l and 4, the opening is of sucient depthto place the nut acted upon at the center of the wrench head. Teeth I2having the same angle on each side are provided between the bearingsurfaces S of the head Iii, and, as will be seen, lend toward making thetool foolproof. The jaws 5 and 6 of the wrench are arcuately recessed,as at I3 and i4, to accommodate the teeth I2 of the head I.

Within the movable jaw 5, and extending into the recess I3 there is apawl I5 secured in place by a pawl pin I6. The pawl I5 is located in arecess I'I in the jaw 5 and is arranged to engage the teeth I2 of thehead I0. For this purpose a small spring iii is located in the pawlrecess I'I for normally maintaining the length of the pawl at a rightangle with respect to the angle of any tooth I2 it engages. Similarly,another pawl I9 is located in a recess 2i! within the housing 2, and theend of the pawl extends into the stationary jaw recess I to engage anyof the teeth I2 at a right angle. The second referred to pawl I9 is alsoactuated by means of a spring 2i in the pawl recess Ii. The reason forthe separate pawls I5 and i9 is to accommodate the width of the wrenchslot Ii when there are no teeth to act upon, as occasioned when the siotis turned inwardly.

There is a shoulder 22 on the jaw arm 4 at a location in line with theaxial center of the tubular handle I, the purpose of which is to actuatethe jaw 5 when acted upon by a pin 23 extending through the handle. Thepin 23 is enlarged near its outer end and has threads 24 thereon tothreadedly engage the inside diameter of the handle I. Integral with thethreaded portion 25 of the pin 23, and outwardly of the handle I, thereis a knurled knob 25 for manually moving the pin 23 for closing themovable jaw 5. A small spring 25 is positioned between the body of thehousing 2 and the jaw arm 4 for opening the jaw 5 when the pin 23 ismoved outwardly.

In operation, heads IQ having various sized openings II may be engagedbetween the jaws 5 and 6 by turning the knob 25. The opening II, whenassembled as described, is applied to a union, nut, or bolt head, or thelike, to be turned. Thus, by operating the handle I the part to bethreadedly secured or disengaged is turned as far as necessary. Byreason of the described construction and arrangement there is little orno shear on the pivot pin i, and there is suicient bearing surface, asat 9, to prevent binding of the head I0. While the pawls I5 and I9 areset 3 for imparting a given direction of rotation to the head I0, thedirection of rotation applied to the nut or bolt may be reversed byremoving the wrench assembly and head I0 therefrom and turning theassembly so as to cause the said head to turn in an opposite directionwhen the handle I is operated.

The form of the invention described is not restrictive but may be madein many ways within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A ratchet wrench comprising a handle, a stationary arcuate jaw securedto one end of said handle, and a hinged arcuate jaw pivotally securedrelative to said end of said handle, a substantially circular wrenchhead adapted to be received within the arcs of said jaws and rotatedtherein, a slot in said wrench head, teeth having substantially equalangles relative to their respective radii around the periphery of saidhead, a paWl pivotally secured to said stationary jaw and arranged toperpendicularly contact the side of the tooth acted upon, and a secondpawl carried by said pivoted jaw and also arranged to perpendicularlycontact the side of the tooth acted upon, and threaded means extendingthrough said handle and contacting said hinged jaw for actuating thelatter relative to the Iirst said jaw.

ROBERT H` RODGERS. ALVAH B. MCKINNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 255,853 Gunn Apr. 4, 1882 ,f732,055 Donavan June 30, 1903 861,524 Lalonde July 30, 1907 921,290Shelburne May 11, 1909 2,445,969 Powell July 27, 1948 2,446,776 MatsonAug. 10, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 24,953 Great BritainOct. 29, 1909

